My sister, who has a 4 1/2 year old and a baby on the way, is about to be a single parent much of the week. She works full-time and my niece won't eat stews or soups, so chili and lentil soup and etc are out. Could anyone suggest some soy-free, gluten-free recipes that can sit in the fridge for the work-week or easy make-ahead meals that she can pull out from the freezer?

frozen burgers save my butt during the week- i use various types of beans, shredded carrot and onion, spices and some type of "filler"- i use oat flour, cornmeal, etc. she might use whatever GF flour works. a little bit of liquid if needed to make them workable. i form them into patties and bake them, flip when one side is golden, bake til done and then freeze and take out as needed.

i don't really use a fixed recipe but any loaf recipe (loaf generator, i'm thinking) can be made into patties.

I cook rice in veg broth and add whatever veggies I have on hand and some chickpeas. I throw in a little earth balance or olive oil & lemon juice depending on veggies. Garlic if you can have garlic breath at work! I try to avoid it. I basically make a vat of rice-veggies-beans thing and it makes meals for most of my week. Or rice pasta can be made with marinara & veggies or as a cold salad with assorted veg & beans. That may be boring but it's easy! Also, having a bunch of hummus, veggies, olives and rice crackers on hand makes for a decent lunch.

There's a stickied thread in the playground, much of which could be adapted to her specific requirements.

_________________No. No. fork life allatimes. - mumblesThat commercial didn't make me want to go out and buy Dove, but this thread did make me sniff my armpits. They smell like apricot. - designedtobekind

For a private chef-ing gig, I had similar requirements- a child's palate, gluten-free, soy-free, but also corn free and low sodium.

-Homemade frozen pizza, though store bought frozen crusts with purchased sauce and daiya will do. For fully homemade frozen pizza, pre-bake crusts alone ever so slightly, add raw toppings when they're at room temperature and transfer onto cardboard rounds to keep them stable, place them in the freezer uncovered until completely frozen, double wrap in plastic wrap and the larger freezer ziplock plastic bag you can find. Bake at 425 for 10 -15 minutes.

-Homemade 'hot pockets,' calzones, empanadas, pastels, arepas, savory handpies and pasties (like cornish style slices, sausage and apple in a 'cheddar' crust, mushroom and spinach, poultry pot pie filled, etc.), and knishes. There are endless options for these in terms of dough and filling, they can be wrapped and reheated individually.

-Homemade frozen pigs-in-a-blanket, but you'll have to make your own soy free gluten free sausage. These are best fully baked and frozen.

-Baked eggplant, and chickpea cutlet parmesan. Reheating in the oven is preferable, a microwave will do.

-Vegetable gratins.

-If you/she do/does make mac and cheese, baked mac and cheese recipes seem to work best for freezing and re-heating in the oven. Pumpkin/winter squash-cashew-noochy sauces I prefer to daiya.

-Quiche. Either in full form with gf pastry, or in mini crustless quiche form- I'd recommend the later, sometimes there can be unpleasant textural changes upon reheating a full quiche. It can be done many ways without tofu. Chickpea flour, tahini, mashed potato and/or potato starch, and nutritional yeast can do the trick, gf oats or buckwheat flakes or quinoa flakes pureed with soaked cashews, pureed zuchhini and soaked nuts, etc. Bake them off, wrap in packs of 4-6 with cling wrap twice, then aluminum foil.

-Since kids tend to like cute, mini foods- vegetable based croquettes (especially broccoli and cheese, though pureed cauliflower and lentils also were popular with the kiddies), mini 'tamale' bites made in a muffin pan, faux chicken nuggets made from white beans or lima beans and cauliflower, in almond meal coating, polenta/millet/amaranth/panisse fries or bites.

-Certain side dishes can easily be made in advance and frozen in single servings. For example, any mashed root vegetable dish can be prepared, scooped with an ice cream scoop onto a pan, frozen until solid, popped into a bag for less bulky storage. Reheat in the microwave.